Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is endorsing former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican nomination race, Fox News confirmed on Friday.
Scott, who in November ended his own run for the White House, will formally announce his support for Trump when he appears alongside the former president at a rally Friday evening in Concord, New Hampshire, sources with knowledge of the matter told Fox News.
Both Trump, who’s the commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination race, and former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called the senator in recent days as they both tried to secure Scott’s endorsement, sources confirm.
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Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is interviewed by Fox News Digital in the spin room following the third GOP presidential nomination debate, in Miami, Florida on Nov. 8, 2023. Scott suspended his White House campaign on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
As Scott ended his presidential bid, he made clear that he had no immediate plans to support another candidate. But sources in his political orbit told Fox News at the time that the senator remained open to backing a candidate.
Scott’s backing of Trump, whom the senator rarely criticized on the campaign trail during his White House run, is the latest major endorsement for the former president in the state that holds the first southern primary in the GOP nomination race.
Gov. Henry McMaster and Sen. Lindsey Graham have long supported Trump.
The state’s Feb. 24 Republican presidential primary is the next major contest in the Republican schedule following Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. The contest is winner-take-all, which means the victor in the Palmetto State will capture all 50 Republican delegates at stake.
Scott, the only Black Repubican in the Senate, launched his presidential campaign in May at an event in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) hugs his mother, Frances Scott, as he announces his run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination at a campaign event on May 22, 2023 in North Charleston, South Carolina. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images) ((Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images))
Standing just a few miles from where he grew up, he highlighted that “we live in the land where it is possible for a kid raised in poverty by a single mother in a small apartment to one day serve in the People’s House and maybe even the White House.”
The senator told Fox News at the time he was “stunned at the hunger for something positive as long as its anchored in conservatism. As long as you have a backbone.”
But his positive and uplifting message failed to resonate in a combative GOP presidential nomination race dominated by Trump, who often spotlights his grievances during his third consecutive run for the White House.
By late autumn, Scott was struggling to qualify for the debates and his poll numbers were stuck in the single digits.
On Nov. 12, Scott announced he was ending his White House bid during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America” with Trey Gowdy.
“I think the voters, who are the most remarkable people on the planet, have been really clear that they’re telling me, ‘Not now, Tim,’” Scott said.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., stand on stage before the third Republican presidential primary debate, on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Haley and Scott share a long political history. They both served together in the state legislature and in 2012, then-Gov. Haley appointed then-Rep. Scott to the Senate to fill a vacancy.
Fox News’ Jessica Loker contributed to this report
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